New funding: Concure Oncology is raising investment for its Breast Microseed treatment, which helps to prevent breast cancer from recurring. A new SEC filing reveals a $3 million cash infusion for the Mercer Island, Wash.-based company. Concure didn’t respond to requests for comment on the financing. The startup previously raised a $5 million round in 2017.
Company background: Here’s how the treatment works: After a tumor is removed, small titanium seeds filled with radioactive palladium are placed inside the patient’s body where the tumor used to be. The rice grain-sized seeds release small amounts of radiation in the former tumor site, killing any cancerous cells that remain and preventing new tumors. The titanium seeds can safely remain in a patient’s tissue and are so small they can’t be felt, even during a mammogram. The treatment is for women with early-stage breast cancer.
The science: Fighting cancer using radioactive seeds — known as brachytherapy — is used to treat prostate cancer and a host of other cancers. Compared with traditional radiation, which is delivered by a beam outside the body, brachytherapy can provide more targeted radiation and treatments can be administered in a single visit.
Leadership: Former CFO Kevin Kelley took over the company as CEO early last year, according to his LinkedIn. He co-founded the company in 2014 with former CEO Sandra Rorem and Dr. Ralph Pascualy, a former physician and executive at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. The Breast Microseed treatment first became available at the Swedish Cancer Institute in 2016. The company has 16 employees listed on LinkedIn.
Investors: Backers listed on the SEC filing include Rorem; Chris Ackerley, managing director at Ackerley Partners; Craig Tall, a director at Cascadia Capital; and Scott Armstrong, chairman of Concure Oncology and former Group Health CEO.
